Just a quick note to say that I've started updating my blog on a regular basis. Rather than posting news here in the News section, I've decided that it would be better to bring everyone up to date with blog postings. It's actually better for me to promote that way and the blogs also provide an opportunity for comments which are always welcome.

Thanks and I hope things are going well all around.

Yours,

JV

]]>http://jerryvelona.com/news/check_out_my_blogMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800Jerry Velona | Jerry Velona Music | NewsRagtime Rabbithttp://jerryvelona.com/news/ragtime_rabbit
OK, so I'm a sucker for a fuzzy little bunny. I've had a few in my life and and the most recent was given the name Mozart by my daughter Nina. To be honest, at first I wasn't crazy about the name but, like all names, it eventually becomes the person, or band, or rabbit as the case may be.

As you can see by the photo, Mozart was pretty damn cute (and quite an athlete). He would actually lick your face with that wonderful sand-papery tongue of his. He lived outside in a split level rabbit condo with a fenced-in yard that I paid way too much for. We would let him run around the house and sit with us on the couch while we watched TV despite his tendency to, well..., spray occasionally. (Note to guests: we have had the couch cleaned).

Sadly, Mozart died a year and a half or so after we welcomed him into our yard and home. He's buried out back like King Tut along with some of his favorite things. I expect that centuries from now, there will be an excavation and exhibit at a museum near you.

In the meantime, he will be (hopefully) immortalized in song which you can listen to here http://jerryvelona.com/publicfiles/Mozart.mp3 It's my first foray into old time jazz and I was helped along by Billy Novick who played clarinet and came up with some of the nice harmonic lines along with Tim Ray on piano, Jesse Williams on bass, Kevin Belz on guitar and Marty Richards on the drums. Brad Hatfield also helped with the chart. The vocalist's name is Debbie Pierre who is a Berklee student and someone you may well hear from in the future.

The song will likely be released later in the year along with some other stuff I'm currently working on. I'll keep you posted.

So grab a snack: perhaps a carrot for the occasion, and take a listen. I hope you like it!

]]>http://jerryvelona.com/news/ragtime_rabbitMon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700Jerry Velona | Jerry Velona Music | NewsWhat's Up?http://jerryvelona.com/news/whats_up_
Well, glad you asked! Random Emotion had a nice run but I'm off to hopefully bigger and better things in 2011. The first shot was the release of the song Locked Out and Loaded which you can preview by clicking a link on my home page. I'm told the song fits in the Outlaw Country category (one of my favorite stations on Sirius/XM radio btw - check it out) which makes me happy. It features Marty Richards on drums, Tom West on piano, Kevin Barry on guitars, Richard Gates on bass and Jim Fitting on harp. The plan is to record another song in the same style and then release both songs as a CD single. I'm thinking about covering the old Beatles song "Little Child" for the B side.

In the past few weeks I've been back at Straight Up Music recording a song I wrote a couple of years ago about our pet rabbit which Nina named Mozart. He was an especially cuddly little thing who died an untimely death after a little over a year in our back yard. The song is my first foray into ragtime and I enlisted the services of Billy Novick of the Black Eagle Jazz Band to play clarinet. Billy also came up with a few really nice arragement ideas on the fly. Along with Billy the track features Marty on drums, Jesse Williams on bass and Tim Ray on piano. Originally I had Nina sing the tune but I also was looking for a professional voice and found Debbie Pierre who's studying at Berklee and did a great job sounding 13 years old! I've sent the track to my uncle, Ted Sommer to see if we can add some of his inimitable percussion. I'll post the finished product on the site as soon as it's done.

I'm putting together a set list of classic soul, funk and r&b songs in hopes to doing a set at Sally O'Brien's sometime in the spring.

The April issue of Metronome magazine is now available at many music stores like Newbury Comics, Guitar Center and elsewhere. You'll find it out front with the other freebies like Improper Bostonian, Stuff, etc. Yours truly has a picture on the cover along with a 2 page interview inside. Thanks to Metronome editor Brian Owens for putting all that together and for his interest in my music. He and his staff have published Metronome out of their Billerica, MA office for many years and it serves the local music scene. Please show your support and pick up a copy. If that's not possible, you can read the interview in its entirety on my website.

My song "It's Just as Well" is part of a Blues compilation published by Oasis. It's circulating all over the US. I got a call from Tim Bates, a DJ at KAFM in Grand Junction, Colorado who loved the song. Said he thought it sounded like Leon Russell which put me in heaven as he's one of my faves. Anyway he'll be playing the song on his show "World Harmony" Sunday nights at 11 PM EST. You can stream at www.KAFMradio.org .

The Joint Venture Band will be playing another date at Sally O Briens in Somerville on Friday, June 18th. Joining me will be Kevin Belz on guitar, Dave Limina on piano/organ, Richard Gates on bass, Marty Richards on drums and Mario Perrett on sax. Should be another great night so please mark your calendars and we hope to see you all there.

Just wanted to post some news about the CD. Sales are moving along and I'm hopeful they will take off after the release gig this Saturday.

The video for Leave Me Alone is now posted on Vimeo as well as youtube. The Vimeo version is in high definition. Thanks to Sid Selvaraj and the crew for getting that up there. The video continues to get hit on almost a daily basis. As of this writing there have been well over 1,200 viewings on youtube. The song resonates with alot of people these days which is gratifying.

Some notable fans have been Chip Ford and Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation - a great group of which I've been a member for many years - who sent the link out to their members. I also had a posting on an Italian free market blog from an outfit called Instituto Bruno Leone. One of their members, Alberto Mingardi wrote an op ed piece for the Wall Street Journal about attempts in Italy to ban smoking in cars (I kid you not). I sent him the link to the video and he loved it and posted it and spread it around to their membership. The only problem is I wouldn't play in Italy if I couldn't smoke in my own damn car!

Random Emotion was selected one of the Top 5 CD's for February in Metronome Magazine. The review is posted elsewhere on this site. They loved the CD and did an interview with me which will be published in the April edition along with a cover picture. I'll be sure to put that up on the site when it comes out. Metronome is a free magazine published in Massachusetts and is available at places like Newbury Comics and Guitar Center and other music-type places. It's not available on line - only in print.

The upcoming gig at Sally O'Brien's should be a blast and I hope to see you all there. We'll be doing most of the tunes from the CD as well as a set of classic funk/soul/rock covers by the likes of Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and more. A rump-shakin' good time!